The Florida Power & Light Co. is planning on building a massive new power plant in the middle of the Florida panther's habitat. The construction would require stripping thousands of acres in the rural part of the state.

Florida panthers once prowled and flourished in woodlands and swamps throughout the Southeast. But as the region was settled, fear of these solitary, secretive predators led to wanton killing, and development claimed their habitat.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking information about a decapitated panther carcass found along the Florida Turnpike near the Osceola and Indian River county line Thursday

Reactions to the unconfirmed sightings of panthers in the Palisades and local townships bring a serious ecological dilemma into focus. Assuming this animal(s) is an eastern panther and not an escaped exotic pet, it is a member of a population of animals

No protected habitat exists for the Florida panther, the only big cat east of the Mississippi. And fewer than 100 individual panthers remain, making the Florida Panther one of America's most endangered species.

Critically endangered, less than 100 of these unique cats exist in Southwest Florida, according to the FWC. Its population is threatened primarily by loss, degradation, and fragmentation of its habitat as a result of urban expansion.

The Florida Panther was declared an endangered species in 1967. The amendment which required each species listed to have 'designated critical habitat' didn't go into effect until 1978, so no critical habitat exists for this critically endangered big cat.

Now is the time to help protect one of our most iconic wildlife species - the Florida panther - from dying out. Fewer than 100 panthers remain in Florida today, and already five panthers have been killed on south Florida highways this year, with an